Root tip

plant anatomy

THIS IS A DIRECTORY PAGE. Britannica does not currently have an article on this topic.

Growth regions of a tree

(A) Longitudinal section of a young tree showing how the annual growth rings are produced in successive conical layers. (B) Shoot apex, the extreme tip of which is the apical meristem, or primary meristem, a region of new cell division that contributes to primary growth, or increase in length, and which is the ultimate source of all the cells in the aboveground parts of the tree. (C) Segment of a tree trunk showing the location of the cambium layer, a secondary meristem that contributes to secondary growth, or increase in thickness. (D) Root tip, the apex of which is also an apical meristem and the ultimate source of all the cells of the root system.

Learn about this topic in these articles:

root

Grasses and other monocotyledons have a fibrous root system, characterized by a mass of roots of about equal diameter. This network of roots does not arise as branches of the primary root but consists of many branching roots that emerge from the base of the stem.